In this Issue
As your Metropolitan Council representative serving the
cities of Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, St. Louis Park and part of
Minneapolis, I am pleased to send you this newsletter update. I also encourage
you to contact me whenever you have questions or comments pertaining to Met
Council issues. You can reach me at: Gail.Dorfman@metc.state.mn.us
I have served on the Met Council for two years and continue
to be impressed with the diligent planning, outreach, and collaboration that
goes into developing policies and services that benefit our entire region. Having
previously served for more than 20 years in city and county government, I am a strong
believer in the importance of having a regional body that works in partnership
with local communities to promote equity and the overall economic vitality of
our metropolitan area.
At the Met Council, whether we’re discussing issues of
transportation, affordable housing, or the environment, we recognize that no
issue can be addressed in a vacuum. The Metro Housing and Redevelopment
Authority (HRA) at the Met Council provides affordable housing to 6500 low
income households across our region. Those 6500 households, and all of us
who live in the Twin Cities, deserve access to a range of transportation
options to get around. I worry that proposed legislative cuts to our transit
system will severely impede our ability to get to work or to school and
negatively impact the quality of life we’ve come to expect from our
award-winning transit system. (Metro Transit was named as the 2016 outstanding
system of the year by the American Public Transportation Association!)
I’m also the executive director of St. Stephen’s Human
Services, a nonprofit agency in Minneapolis that helps people who are homeless secure
shelter, housing and other services. Recently my work at St. Stephen’s
intersected with my role at the Met Council. There’s been a dramatic increase
over the past year of people using transit as shelter, often riding buses/LRT all
night or sleeping at transit stations. At St. Stephen’s, we’re working with Sgt.
Mario Roberto and Metro Transit Police to connect people who are homeless to
the shelter and services they need. Metro Transit Police have also been spreading the word about the new Adult Shelter Connect at St. Olaf Church in
downtown Minneapolis where people experiencing homelessness can make
reservations for shelter beds. This is just one example of how systems working
together, in this case law enforcement and social services, can make a
difference for people in need in our region.
If there is an issue that involves the Met Council where I
can be helpful, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Gail
Metropolitan
Council - District 6
Gail Dorfman
is the Met Council representative for the Met Council, representing Crystal,
Golden Valley, New Hope, St. Louis Park, and southwest Minneapolis.
The
Council is accepting applications for the Green Infrastructure Pilot Grant
Program, which will fund integrated solutions to water-related problems in the
Twin Cities metro area. Key problems the Council seeks to address are water
quantity, water quality, and aging and inadequate infrastructure. Deadline for
applications is July 17. More about the new grant program.
Despite
the strong growth in the region's bicycle transportation system in the last
decade, many physical barriers exist that get in the way of safe and efficient
bicycle transportation. The Council is studying these barriers - rivers and
streams, railroad corridors, and freeways and expressways. We need your help to
assess existing barrier crossings and identify possible locations for
developing new barrier crossings. Log on to an interactive wikimap to share
where you experience problems crossing barriers and where you would like to see
new crossings.
The Metropolitan Council is seeking public input on a proposal to raise transit fares in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.
Proposed fare increases would affect all regional transit services, including those operated by Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, the Metropolitan Council, (including Transit Link and suburban service), and suburban transit providers (Maple Grove Transit, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, Plymouth MetroLink, and SouthWest Transit). Transit fares, under state law and regional policy must be set on a regional basis and be consistent across providers.
We have a public hearing in Minneapolis at the Minneapolis Central Library on May 31 at noon. There are two open houses that are in or adjacent to our district in Edina on June 8th at 6:30 p.m. the Southdale Library located at 7001 York Ave. South and another in Minneapolis on June 13 at 6 p.m. at the North Regional Library, 1315 Lowry Avenue N.
Legislative leaders are working to pass a
transportation bill before session ends on May 22. Visit Transit at the Capitol
for the latest information.
Learn more at the status of Transit at the Capitol
You can read more about the transportation proposals and the latest news coverage at the “Transit at the Capitol” website. We’ll update the website regularly, so you can stay up to date on the latest transit news. |